academy and former state governor. Due to confusion as to which state agency had ownership of the stretch of land, the bridge was built without the necessary permissions; it was almost demolished, but allowed to remain due to a lease agreement with the town. On November 1, 2002, the state DEEP acquired an additional section of railbed in East Hampton from ConnDOT; however, the trail was not actually improved over the section. In 2011, a extension from Smith Street to Watrous Street was completed. A further section (including a bridge over the Pocotopaug Creek) was completed in June 2012, bringing the trail to Main Street in downtown East Hampton. During construction, the original railroad bridge was found to have been buried in the embankment next to the right of way, forcing design changes to the trail. Around that time, East Hampton and Portland began planning to extend the trail to downtown Portland, which would additionally provide a connection to Middletown over the Arrigoni Bridge. In January 2015, East Hampton received a $400,000 grant for Phase I, running from Main Street to Aldens Crossing; that section opened in 2017. A second $538,000 state grant, awarded in March 2016, funded the Phase II from Aldens Crossing to the town line at Depot Hill Road. Work on Phase II began in 2017. , phase II was complete except for a section through protected wetlands, which may require a boardwalk. In June 2018, Phase I of the town-maintained portion of the trail in Portland, CT opened to the public, extending from the East Hampton town line to the YCMA Camp Ingersoll, a distance of . Unlike the rest of the trail, the 2.3 mile right-of-way in Portland is owned by Eversource Energy In December 2015, the town approved an agreement with Eversource to allow the construction of a recreational trail on their property; a formal signing took place on January 20, 2016. On March 2, 2016, town voters approved the $172,000 acquisition of a former quarry Middle Haddam Road to serve as the trailhead; this served as the 20% local match for potential state funding. An existing quarter-mile access road to the quarry leads north from the trailhead parking area to the rail trail. Later that month, the extension was allocated $686,000 in the same round of grants that funded the East Hampton Phase II. The section was originally expected to open around April